Mark Shuttleworth and Ubuntu in the New York Times

There is a good overview article on Mark, Ubuntu, and Canonical in the business section of yesterday's New York Times. For those that don't know about Mark and the Ubuntu team it provides some context and history about Mark, Thawte, the creation of Ubuntu Linux and the Canonical business model. There are good quotes from the usual suspects in our community (Chris Di Bona, Ian Murdoch, Matt Asay). I need to disagree with Matt. (I know — that's normal between he and I.) I don't think Mark is going to have a crisis of faith in the business anytime soon. He has always had big visions. In Mark's own words, "It was very clear that I was in a unique situation where I should choose to do things that were not possible otherwise." I think Mark [thankfully] thinks deeply and differently from most people.

Photo by Hazel Thompson for the New York Times

Comments

[Matt Asay]

You need a bit more context on what I said, and what he thinks. He does think differently, but as Warren Buffet will tell you, anyone who claims that "this time it's different" or that somehow they've found a "new" way of doing business is trying to sell you something. Ubuntu doesn't challenge the basic laws of economics. Period. Mark needs to find ways to make money. Period. Some of those ways will challenge the free software community's conception of what is acceptable. Period.

And, hence, the "crisis of faith." Period. :-)

[Stephen R. Walli]

Morning Matt: Always a pleasure to have you visit :-)
I have confidence that you were reduced to short quotes missing context by the journalists. That said, Canonical does have revenue, and is exploring ways of making better money. I don't believe Mark thinks "this time it's different" or that he is naive on "new" ways of doing business. His depth of understanding of Microsoft's OEM business and how hard it is to replicate is a case in point. That didn't stop Canonical from exploring business with Dell. I am saying I think that if anyone will discover a sound economical model to scale the business, Mark has my vote.